


Moments of Heaven in the Week From Hell

by PondAmyPond



Category: Criminal Minds (US TV)
Genre: But mostly fluff, F/F, F/M, Feelings, First Kiss, Fluff, Fluffy, Gender Neutral, M/M, Oneshot, Other, Reader Insert, gender neutral reader, minor angst i guess
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-16
Updated: 2019-05-16
Packaged: 2020-03-06 13:59:51
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,190
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18852487
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PondAmyPond/pseuds/PondAmyPond
Summary: You’ve had to sit this case out, after an accident leaves you on crutches. And listening to your team, and one member in particular, in danger has made you realise you can’t hide your feelings anymore. You just have to hope he takes it well.





	Moments of Heaven in the Week From Hell

It had been a week from hell. Stuck in the BAU on your crutches while the others were in the field with a case more dangerous than usual. You really didn’t know how Penny did it all the time. Worrying about the team was driving you crazy. And if you were being totally honest, you were worried about one of them more than the others. 

You weren’t the only one. You could tell from the hitch in her voice when she checked in on Derek, Penny had it bad. You were a decent profiler, after all. The problem was that so were your colleagues, and after this week you weren’t sure you could hide your crush much longer. Which meant you’d have to confront it. 

The final showdown with the unsub nearly stopped your heart. Sitting in Penny’s office, listening to him try to talk the unsub down. Knowing that a gun was pointed at him while he tried to find a peaceful solution. And then there was a shot, and all you could think was that if you’d been standing you might have fallen over. Your whole world fell apart for a minute as you waited for an answer. It wasn’t until you heard his panted reply through the radio that you realised you had been holding your breath. After that there were some tearful hugs with Penny, and the arrest was made. The team would be heading back to the office immediately. He’d be here in 3 hours. 

3 hours had never felt so long. Each second on the ticking clock above your head felt like an eternity. You finished all of your paperwork, and half of Emily’s (you really shouldn’t have bet her about Eurovision). And then, the elevator pinged softly in the foyer. You spun in your chair, bracing yourself. Morgan, Hotch, Rossi, Emily- there. And despite the hell of it all, and the terror building in your stomach, you smile. Reid always had that effect on you. 

“Hey squirt,” Morgan ruffles your hair and dumps his go bag on his desk. “Miss us?” 

“Miss you, Morgan? Sure. Like a puppy with fleas misses them after a bath.” You grin at him. He clutches his heart dramatically. Then a split second of the radio chatter flashes into your head and you drop the grin. “Yes. I missed you all, a lot actually.” 

Morgan comes over to pull you into a hug. “It’s okay, squirt. We’ve all been there, listening but helpless. It’s terrifying. And we missed you too.” He pulls back from the hug and cocks his head with a smirk. “Besides, without you there was nobody to entertain us by falling down the stairs at crime scenes,” he adds. You swat at him playfully. 

“How is your leg?” Emily asks. 

“Almost fixed now. I barely even need one crutch.” 

“That’s a shame, I was hoping to wring a couple more weeks of paperwork out of you!” She laughs. 

“Not a chance, Prentiss!” You laugh back. 

He hasn’t said anything at all yet. He’s just standing by his desk, fingers tracing each object slowly. He does that when he’s thinking or emotional. 

“I could use a drink, how about you guys?” Morgan announces. 

“I am very much in,” Penny agreed, wrapping her arm around his. “But only if someone else is buying.”

“Your wish is my command, baby girl,” Morgan grins. “Rossi, Hotch, you joining us for a round?” 

“Sure, I think we’ve all earned that. I’ll buy,” Rossi says. Emily snorts as Morgan winks at Penny.

“I think I’ll sit this one out, I’m beat,” Hotch says. 

“Reid?” Prentiss asks, grabbing her coat. 

“No, I’m not really in the mood tonight. Thanks,” he says. He hasn’t looked up from his desk. 

“I think I’ll have to take a rain check too guys, I’ll see you tomorrow?” you smile. With a little wave, you see them all out. It isn’t until the elevator door slides shut that you spin around to face Reid. 

“I am never doing that again,” you say, decisively. 

“Doing what?” he asks, looking up and making eye contact. His eyes always catch you out, they’re so earnest.

“Sitting here and listening while you’re in danger,” you say. 

“We were fine, I know it sounded bad, but we had it covered.” 

“Not the team, Reid. I know the team would be okay. You.”

He frowns. The little crease in his eyebrows makes your fingers twitch slightly. You want to smooth it out. 

“Me?” 

“I can’t do it, Reid. Sat here, thinking he’d shot you, that you might be-“ you cut yourself off. 

“But I’m fine,” he says, coming over to you now, crouching in front of your chair. 

“I know,” your voice is shaking. The tears are hot as they spill over. This wasn’t how you wanted this to go but the emotions were all overwhelming.

Reid lifts a hand to your face and wipes away a tear with his thumb. It lingers for a second, stroking your cheek.

“Reid?”

“Yes,” he says, snapping his hand away from your face and standing up abruptly. 

You take a deep breath. You have to say this now or you never will. 

“You know Garcia and Morgan?”

“I’m aware of their existence, yes,” he smirks a little. Your heart lurches. 

“You can hear it in their voices. When Garcia got shot, Morgan’s voice wasn’t whole for three weeks. Every time she checks in on him, when she’s scared or emotional about him. It’s the only time I think I’ve ever heard him call her Penelope.” 

“Where are you going with this?” Reid leans against his desk. 

“My voice does it too. Those tiny betrayals when I’m scared for him. When my whole world view shrinks to just him and it’s all I can do not to scream and run all the way to the danger, so I can pull him away from it.”

“Who do you mean?” 

You stand up, limping a bit but managing to make your way to stand in front of him. 

“You’re the genius, Spence.”

You see the click of understanding in his eyes.

“You called me that before, on the radio. After the gunshot. You sounded like you were in pain, I wanted to fix it but I didn’t understand what was wrong. I thought maybe you’d fallen again,” he runs his tongue over his lower lip. 

“I did,” you whisper. “I fell a long time ago.”

Spencer takes your hand, his fingers twining with yours. He stares at it for a moment, and then his eyes are back to yours, pulling you into their caramel comfort. 

“How do I fix it?” He asks, quietly. The lean is subtle but it feels magnetic, the universe pulling you both closer.

“Catch me,” you reply, as your lips finally meet. It’s the sweetest kiss, full of gentle understanding and hope. Promises of protection, all the words you can’t say out loud are in that kiss. 

And you think, with the small part of your brain that isn’t filled with fireworks, that maybe the week from hell has turned out alright in the end. 


End file.
